It was a celebratory ambiance as revivalists, dressed of their elaborate multi-coloured robes and head gear acquired the United Nations Instructional, Scientific and Cultural Group (UNESCO) certificates recognising the Pilgrimage to Watt City on the Record of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The doc was handed over by Minister of Tradition, Gender, Leisure and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, throughout the annual pilgrimage in St. Ann on March 6.
UNESCO inscribed the Revival Pilgrimage to Watt City on the Intangible Cultural Heritage Record in December 2024 throughout the assembly of the Intergovernmental Committee for the 2003 Conference for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
It’s Jamaica’s third UNESCO inscription, following the popularity of the Maroon Heritage of Moore City in 2008 and Reggae music in November 2019.
Revivalism is a folks faith that mixes African spirituality and Christianity.
It started as a spiritual motion referred to as Myalism, which was began by Africans dropped at Jamaica to work on plantations.
Myalism was one of many first anti-slavery actions.
The Pilgrimage to Watt City is an annual non secular commemoration and celebration by Jamaican revivalists, which began simply earlier than the Nice Revival of September 1860.
Ms. Grange lauded the Pilgrimage as an occasion “the place historical past, spirituality and neighborhood converge to have fun not solely our cultural heritage, but additionally the spirit of renewal and revival that’s alive in each nook of this vibrant city… each nook and cranny of Jamaica and throughout the diaspora, the place you could have Jamaicans”.
“This journey reconnects us with the timeless traditions of our ancestors, who… when the slave masters launched Christianity, they created a novel Jamaican worship, African-Christian Jamaican worship by revivalism,” she identified.
She underscored the significance of the Pilgrimage to Watt City incomes UNESCO’s recognition.
“UNESCO doesn’t inscribe faith, however [it] will inscribe parts that remember facets of the faith, and we thought it was essential [to nominate the pilgrimage] as a result of this can be a follow that began with our ancestors, and it has continued,” she mentioned.
“This recognition affirms the deep cultural and historic significance of our revival traditions, preserving them for future generations whereas honouring the resilience, the energy, the religion, and the unity that bind our folks. I invite every of you to proceed embracing this chance, to have fun our previous, to have interaction with our current and ignite the way forward for our cultural heritage,” Ms. Grange mentioned.
